No. Not like Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson might have been the nominee if someone had woken him up before it was too late. Fred was simply amazing in the S. Carolina debate. Prior to that he might have actually been asleep.

Perry's problem is that he is awake and talking. He started out real well and then trailed off. He is the anti-Fred.

AJ Lynch said...Perry railed against the Beltway insiders and bragged that he was not one of them yet he will endorse Newt, the consummate Beltway insider==================Yeah. There is that. Not only was Perry a dumber Dubya, but your sensed he didn't really grasp or believe in the talking points his handlers fed him. They gave him 3 departments he was supposed to look dynamic trying to get rid of, and he thought.."OK, whatever, I'll try to remember what I am supposed to believe".

He didn't. "Ooops!"

As for being the Great Outsider...Texas plays an insider game in politics. Some johnny come lately arrives in Texas politics, they are thought of as Outsiders in the same way Texans think of Yankees as Outsiders.To him, the goal of being President would be to get to play in a bigger Insider game.

AJ Lynch said...Perry railed against the Beltway insiders and bragged that he was not one of them yet he will endorse Newt, the consummate Beltway insider==================Yeah. There is that. Not only was Perry a dumber Dubya, but your sensed he didn't really grasp or believe in the talking points his handlers fed him. They gave him 3 departments he was supposed to look dynamic trying to get rid of, and he thought.."OK, whatever, I'll try to remember what I am supposed to believe".

He didn't. "Ooops!"

As for being the Great Outsider...Texas plays an insider game in politics. Some johnny come lately arrives in Texas politics, they are thought of as Outsiders in the same way Texans think of Yankees as Outsiders.To him, the goal of being President would be to get to play in a bigger Insider game.

Actually I did like him at first until his heartless comment pissed me off. I'm heartless cause I think its bullshit illegals can get in state tuition yet my daughter who is an American citizen cannot.

Early scuttlebutt appears to be that he will withdraw and throw his support behind Gingrich. On the other hand, this looks like it's going to be an extremely tough day for Newt. Harder than anything Cain faced. Given that, Perry may decide to withhold his endorsement until the dust clears a little bit. Certainly he's got all day to do so if he intends on dropping out at the debate tonight.

If that is the case, though, Romney will probably receive the brunt of attacks by someone on the stage with him that has zero to lose. In the context of the situation, there's not much worse that a candidate who does have something to lose could face.

Andy R, did you think Senator Obama looked like someone who should be taken seriously as a candidate for president?

Zero executive experience at any level public or private, and only a couple of years' experience in the federal government in any capacity; and only a few more years than that in any role in government at any level.

Worked in the same building with, and held his first campaign launch party at the house of, terrorist William Ayers; and attended a church where the pastor would shriek "God damn America."

And yet he won. And trillions of dollars later, real unemployment hovers at depression levels.

Maybe you should keep your opinions of who looks like they should be taken seriously under your sideways hat, dude.

When Perry announced his candidacy, this is what I had to say, "I guess he's just going to further divide the vote among the joke unserious candidates, which I imagine benefits Romney."

I think you will all agree, that is exactly the role he played. He wandered around the country embarrassing himself as the voters saw from his speeches and debates that he was barely capable of speaking in complete sentences, further dividing the votes among the Republican rubes that could have gone to the other joke candidates like Gingrich or Santorum.

I might have thought that Perry was a secret agent working for Romney that was intended to do exactly what he did, but Romneybot would have clearly picked someone less jokey if he was behind this scheme.

I will leave it as an exercise for the reader to check out that previous thread to see everyone who argued with my initial comment, and were oh so thrilled that Perry was getting in and could actually offer a viable alternative to Romney. I'm not sure how people become so misguided as to take such a joke candidate seriously, but I'll continue to persevere in explaining to all of you how American politics actually works.

Well it seems the only line of attack on Romney is that he made a lot of money. Evidently that's a sin now.

Regardless, I have a feeling it's going to be brutal and unbounded by normal debate protocols. I don't remember a case in which a candidate has already signaled that he's out, only to participate in a debate later that day. I'm sure it's happened, I just don't remember and instance of it.

Newt is not perfect, but who among us is? Newt is actually kind of a scumbag, but a scumbag can be effective. You can be a complete jerk and still make things happen. Sure, anyone who has worked with Newt hates him, but sometimes hate brings out the best in people. You say to yourself, what a loser. I can do better than that narcissistic show pig. And you up your game. Win or lose, if Newt is our candidate, I know I have a chance in 2016.

Regardless, I have a feeling it's going to be brutal and unbounded by normal debate protocols. I don't remember a case in which a candidate has already signaled that he's out, only to participate in a debate later that day. I'm sure it's happened, I just don't remember and instance of it.

Agreed, I think the honorable thing to do when you’ve decided not to run anymore is to graciously bow out of any previously scheduled debates and let the focus and allotted time go to the remaining candidates. Having someone in the debates who has already decided to end their campaign just makes the debates look like an even bigger waste of time than they already are.IMO if Perry has formally announced he’s dropping out, then he shouldn’t be allowed in the debates. If he shows up, then he should get the first question which should be “Governor Perry, are you still running for the Republican nomination for president?” If he answers with anything other than a definitive “yes, I’m still running” then he should be immediately escorted off the stage.

Having someone in the debates who has already decided to end their campaign just makes the debates look like an even bigger waste of time than they already are.

Not only that, but he's supposedly going to endorse Gingrich. That basically creates a debate duo. Perry's got no reason to answer any question in any way other than to frame it to Newt's benefit and, certainly, Romney's disadvantage.

Oh, dear, no. Rick Perry and Fred Thompson each have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses -- as men, as public servants, as political candidates -- but on anything but the most superficial basis (e.g., speaking with a "cornpone" accent), there isn't much overlap.

The biggest single difference -- oddly, for the better in both cases -- is that Rick Perry is not a lawyer and isn't capable of thinking like one, whereas Fred Thompson is a very fine lawyer and that shows in practically everything he says and does.